Tag: supernatural

1899 Season 1 Episode 1: The Ship Recap

~ Metacrone ~ 1 Comment

Opening voiceover, sounds like Maura, our main character (Emily Beecham): The brain is wider than the sky, For put them side by side, The one the other will contain, With ease and you beside. The brain is deeper than the sea, for hold them, blue to blue, The one the other will absorb, as sponges buckets do.

Images: first person perspective of flying through clouds in the sky, then we view snowy, barren ground; flash to open sea; flash to rocky mountains and valleys, with castle or old stone mansion; flash to ocean with ship; flash to craggy, cold, barren land with black pyramid; back to sea, which is choppy and opens into the watery vortex from the trailers.

We rush through the swirling whirlpool-vortex and come out in a mental hospital housed in the old stone building we saw from the air. We can probably assume it’s 1899, given the title of the show, but it could be anytime with wall sconces for lighting. Maura runs down the hall wearing only a hospital gown. She sees a man (Anton Lesser) standing in shadow at the end of the hall. He watches impassively as burly orderlies drag her away. She yells to him, “Father? I…I know what I’ve seen. I’m not crazy! What did you do to my brother? Where is my brother? He was on the Prometheus. He found out what you were doing on these ships. Why don’t I remember? What have you done to my memory? I’m not crazy!”

The door slams on her room, #1011, locking her inside. Her father steps partially out of the shadows and whispers, “Wake up.”

Continue reading “1899 Season 1 Episode 1: The Ship Recap” →

Midnight, Texas Season 1 Episode 1: Pilot Recap

~ Metacrone ~ Leave a comment

Happy Halloween! I’m going to rewatch season 1 of Midnight, Texas, so for fun I’ll try to write some quick recaps. Let’s see how far into the season I get. I recapped season 2 as it aired.

Midnight, Texas is a 2 season show that aired from 2017-18, currently streaming on Peacock, which is loosely based on the 3 book series by Charlaine Harris. The books take place in the True Blood/Sookie Stackhouse universe with a couple of minor character crossovers, but the show didn’t acknowledge the connection. It originally ran on the NBC broadcast network, so it’s also much tamer than True Blood, but it’s still an hour long dramedy about supernaturals finding refuge in a small town in the southern US.

The main character of Midnight, Texas is Manfred Bernardo (Francois Arnaud), a medium from a long line of mediums, who was raised by his recently deceased grandmother and is still close to her ghost. Said ghost now dwells in the RV where they lived as they traveled the country, working their trade. Manfred is on the run from a business deal gone wrong, so Grandma Xylda (Joanne Camp) counsels him to hole up in her old haunt of Midnight, a town where supernaturals are safe to be themselves and everyone has a secret.

Continue reading “Midnight, Texas Season 1 Episode 1: Pilot Recap” →

Interview with the Vampire Season 1 Episode 2: …After the Phantoms of Your Former Self Recap

~ Metacrone ~ Leave a comment

Episode 2 picks up where the pilot left off, not long after Lestat finishes turning Louis into a vampire. Lestat spends the rest of the night cleaning up bodies and giving Louis his first lessons on how to live as a vampire. In the months and years that follow, Louis attempts to juggle being a vampire and maintaining his human lifestyle, with continued input from Lestat. As their lives become more entangled and their power dynamic more complicated, it leads to a more volatile relationship between maker and fledgling vampire.

Recap

On Day 2 of the interviews, Daniel (Eric Bogosian) examines a painting in the dining room while he waits for Louis (Jacob Anderson). Rashid (Assad Zaman) enters and tells him the work is by Venetian artist Marius de Romanus, an obscure painter with few surviving pieces who was a contemporary of 16th century painter Tintoretto. He explains that Louis “covets the rare.”

Daniel doesn’t pause to consider whether his Pulitzer Prize and previous Interview with the Vampire experience make him rare enough to collect.

Continue reading “Interview with the Vampire Season 1 Episode 2: …After the Phantoms of Your Former Self Recap” →

Interview with the Vampire Season 1 Episode 1: In Throes of Increasing Wonder… Recap

~ Metacrone ~ Leave a comment

This is a spoiler-filled recap of season 1 episode 1 of the AMC TV series Interview with the Vampire. My review of episodes 1 and 2 (with minimal spoilers) is HERE.

Interview with the Vampire is based on Anne Rice’s 1976 novel of the same name and follows the misadventures and twisted affections of two vampires, Louis de Pointe du Lac and Lestat de Lioncourt. Louis narrates the tale via the framing device of the titular interview, given to ageing investigative journalist Daniel Molloy. The series alternates between their discussion in the present day and depictions of the past as Louis describes it.

Present day Louis lives in a customized penthouse in Dubai with a staff of devoted servants and a fabulous art collection. Now that they are both older and wiser, he invites Daniel to visit and have a second go at the disappointing interview they did together almost 50 years ago.

Louis begins the new version of his story in 1910, when he was the human owner of several brothels in New Orleans, which he maintained in order to support his elderly mother, engaged sister and mentally ill, religion-obsessed brother in the style they’d enjoyed while his father was alive. He was a Black Creole business owner in the Jim Crow south, which meant his business options were strictly limited. He’d kept from his family how close they’d already been to financial ruin when his father died a few years earlier.

Louis had to alter the way the family made its money because their sugar plantations (changed from indigo plantations in the book) no longer supported them due to restrictions imposed by the racist Jim Crow laws. Rather than accept the truth, his family believed that he preferred the low life and fast money of the red-light district and had willingly chosen this life over their genteel lifestyle.

As the story begins, the vampire Lestat arrives in town, fresh off the boat from France, and discovers New Orleans is a town that very much suits his tastes.

And that Louis is a man who very much suits his tastes.

Continue reading “Interview with the Vampire Season 1 Episode 1: In Throes of Increasing Wonder… Recap” →

A Discovery of Witches Season 3 Episode 7 Recap: In Which Diana Rescues Matthew

~ Metacrone ~ 1 Comment

In episode 7, the series finale, Diana shows that she’s come fully into her power. She rallies the family, including Baldwin, to find Matthew and rescue him from Benjamin’s torture. Then she confronts the Congregation with scientific evidence that the Covenant is helping drive species extinct, and in the process thwarts Gerbert’s plans, while helping bring justice for the long overlooked daemons. Once she’s done saving the creature world, Diana turns back toward Matthew and tying up loose ends with her family.

Recap

The action picks up not long after the end of the previous episode. Dressed in black dark colors, the family gathers in the Sept-Tours great hall to organize the search for Matthew.

Continue reading “A Discovery of Witches Season 3 Episode 7 Recap: In Which Diana Rescues Matthew” →

A Discovery of Witches Season 3 Episode 6 Recap: In Which Diana and Matthew Attempt to Settle Old Scores

~ Metacrone ~ 1 Comment
Discovery of Witches S3Ep6 Sarah & Diana Cast a Spell

In episode 6, Matthew leaves for Poland to find Benjamin and punish him for being a de Clermont –acting exactly like Matthew – not getting the message that the de Clermonts don’t harm witches any more since Matthew met Diana. And for stealing his grandfather Philippe’s watch. While Matthew is gone, Diana and Sarah set out to retrieve the Book of Life from the library now that they have all three missing pages.

Recap

As Ruelle’s song Genesis plays, Matthew (Matthew Goode) and Diana (Teresa Palmer) say an emotional goodbye, then he drives to Poland, where Benjamin (Jacob Ifan) is holding witches hostage and waiting for Matthew to find him.

Diana informs Marcus (Edward Bluemel) that she and Matthew agreed she’d go to Oxford and retrieve the Book of Life while he was gone. In an out of character moment, Marcus tries to talk her out of it. He thinks they should all sit at Sept-Tours and wait for Matthew to come home.

Continue reading “A Discovery of Witches Season 3 Episode 6 Recap: In Which Diana and Matthew Attempt to Settle Old Scores” →

A Discovery of Witches Season 3 Episode 5: In Which Diana and Matthew Return to Sept-Tours

~ Metacrone ~ 1 Comment

In episode 5, the Bishop-Clairmont family and their allies travel to Matthew’s French ancestral home, Sept-Tours, for the twins’ christening. The gathering also serves as a war council as they consider future plans in their fight to modernize the Congregation’s rules and operations. Benjamin takes witches hostage in Poland in the hope of turning them into his own “Diana”. The Congregation discusses the twins and how to deal with the threat they could pose to the established order.

Recap

As Tmrw. by Milk and Bone plays, Ysabeau (Lindsay Duncan) oversees the preparations for the twins’ christening at Sept-Tours and Diana (Teresa Palmer) and Agatha (Tanya Moodie) attend Timothy’s funeral in the Cotswolds, England. Timothy wasn’t exaggerating the extent of his isolation- Diana and Agatha are the only mourners at his funeral. Agatha made the preparations to have him laid to rest in the tiny village cemetery, but she feels bad because she has no idea what he would have wanted for himself.

Continue reading “A Discovery of Witches Season 3 Episode 5: In Which Diana and Matthew Return to Sept-Tours” →

A Discovery of Witches Season 3 Episode 4 Recap: In Which Diana And Matthew Welcome Twins

~ Metacrone ~ 2 Comments

In episode 4, Diana and Sarah seek the help of a local coven to perform a locator spell to aid in their search for the last missing page. Now that they have more blood samples to work with, Chris and Miriam’s research yields some disappointing results, which Miriam shares with Matthew in New Orleans. Everyone returns to London just in time for Diana to go into labor.

Recap

Diana (Teresa Palmer) sits on her bed, weaving a spell using the knots Goody Alsop taught her in the 16th century, with her grimoire and a pregnancy book beside her. After a minute she stops to take a break, then heads downstairs, where she runs into Gallowglass (Steven Cree). He watches her with affection as she takes a cup of tea from Fernando (Olivier Huband) and greets Phoebe (Adelle Leonce) and Sarah (Alex Kingston). The two women have been sifting through the hundreds of potential TJ Westons who might own the third page from the Book of Life and are getting frustrated.

Diana wonders if the TJ with the page doesn’t want to be found, so she’s been creating a locator spell. Sarah is intrigued by Diana’s idea, but realizes they’ll need a coven, since it takes several witches to work that type of spell. Phoebe, Gallowglass and Fernando worry that working with a coven will alert Peter Knox (Owen Teale) to their activities, but Diana has come too far to let Peter scare her off.

Continue reading “A Discovery of Witches Season 3 Episode 4 Recap: In Which Diana And Matthew Welcome Twins” →

A Discovery of Witches Season 3 Episode 3: In Which Matthew Goes to New Orleans and Diana Goes to the Library

~ Metacrone ~ 2 Comments

In episode 3, Diana substantially ups her sweater game while she and Phoebe continue their research into the missing pages. Matthew, Marcus and Jack visit New Orleans to convince Marcus’ family to put aside their hatred of Matthew and join the new scion. Gallowglass, Fernando and Sarah bond as Diana’s support crew.

Recap

We begin in New Orleans, home of the large circle of vampires Marcus (Edward Bluemel) made after he grew tired of the de Clermonts and ran away from home to join the circus in the 19th century. No, seriously- several of his children were circus performers before they were vampires. Marcus has always had a sense of fun and adventure. When he created a new home and family that was all his own, he made sure they shared those traits, in addition to wanting warmth and love as much as he did. Then the Congregation, Matthew (Matthew Goode) and Philippe took the community they’d built away from all of them again. They didn’t understand why until last season, more than a century later. Matthew earned the bitterness they feel toward him.

Continue reading “A Discovery of Witches Season 3 Episode 3: In Which Matthew Goes to New Orleans and Diana Goes to the Library” →

A Discovery of Witches Season 3 Episode 2 Recap: In Which Diana and Matthew Have Unexpected Family Reunions

~ Metacrone ~ 1 Comment

In episode 5, Matthew and Diana continue to work with Chris and Miriam to analyze creature DNA. Father Hubbard returns Jack to them, with mixed results. After Benjamin reappears, Matthew agrees to form a scion.

Recap

The episode begins with modern day Father Andrew Hubbard (Paul Rhys) kneeling in his church while doing a little light devotional reading. Hubbard recognizes Benjamin Fuchs’ (Jacob Ifan) footsteps as he approaches from behind. He says he told Benjamin never to darken his door again. Benjamin won’t leave until he gets what he came for (not “who,” though he’s referring to a vampire). Andrew says he hasn’t seen the person in question in months. Benjamin is sure he’ll show up sooner or later and orders Andrew to inform him when that happens. As Benjamin walks away, Andrew whispers, “Why can’t you just leave him alone, Benjamin?” Since Benjamin is a vampire, he hears the whisper, but ignores it.

Continue reading “A Discovery of Witches Season 3 Episode 2 Recap: In Which Diana and Matthew Have Unexpected Family Reunions” →